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US senator blocks controversial anti-piracy legislation

By Intern / 27 May, 2011

Just hours after the PROTECT IP Act passed unanimously in the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, Democratic Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon placed a hold to prevent it from reaching the Senate. Wyden argued the legislation was an “overreaching approach to policing the internet.” The act was introduced two weeks ago and authorises the government to use court orders to prohibit internet search engines from displaying sites that violate intellectual property laws. It would also force internet providers to block “rogue” sites offering pirated goods.Media groups fighting for anti-piracy protection have largely praised the legislation.﻿

Index on Censorship magazine

Don’t miss the winter issue of Index on Censorship magazine. With the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta approaching, we discuss what a 21st-century Magna Carta would include. Don’t miss answers from Robert McCrum, Elif Shafak and Ferial Haffajee. Also in this edition: cartoonist Martin Rowson interviews fantasy writer Neil Gaiman; actor/director Simon Callow on why the police should do more to make sure controversial productions go on; Kaya Genç on attacks on women journalists in Turkey; plus Peter Kellner on democracy’s debt to the Magna Carta and John Crace’s humorous history, and the first English translation of Hanoch Levin’s controversial short story Diary of a Censor